TOW Chandler Dates Rachel
by littleblackcurlyhair
Summary: A Randler story that takes place pre-Mondler, after Ross and Rachel take a break. Note- I really do love Mondler, but I've always thought Rachel and Chandler were cute together as well, so this is kind of just a what-if story. Reviews make my heart smile! :)
1. Chapter 1

Chandler goes inside Central Perk and orders his usual coffee to go from Gunther, to take with him on his way to work. Normally, none of his friends are down here this early in the morning.  
Not even Rachel who usually works afternoons or evening shifts. That's why he was surprised to see her there, keeping herself busy, busting tables. Chandler finds himself watching her as he waits for his coffee, and can't help but notice that she has a far-off, sad look she has in her eye, like her mind is in other places right now, and Chandler knows why. It was only a couple days ago that she and Ross broke up again after the she found out about the other girl he slept with while they were on a break. He, along with Joey, Phoebe and Monica, had heard the whole fight they had afterwards while they were trapped in Monica's room. It had been painful to listen to. Not only because it brought back horrible childhood memories of his parent's divorce for him, but because as Ross's best friend, he felt obligated to sympathize with him. He knows how much Ross loves Rachel, and he knows how hard this must be for him, but he couldn't help but feel for Rachal, too. She was the real victim in all this. Here she had been so happy to finally get back together again with the man that she loved only to for him to break her heart. She didn't deserve that. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realized how badly Ross had screwed up. Rachel was a beautiful, kind-hearted girl, with so much going for her and Ross didn't know how lucky he was to have her. He knew how hard Ross was trying to get her back, but for what he did, Ross didn't deserve a girl like Rachel.

'If Rachel's so great,' a small voice in his head asks him 'then why don't YOU go out with her?'

Chandler snorts to himself at this idea. 'Yeah, right...me and Rachel. Boy, Ross would love that, wouldn't he?' he laughs out loud. Louder than he had meant to, and  
Rachel finally notices him standing there.

"Oh, hey Chandler. I didn't see you there." She said as she walked past him, her hands full of empty mugs she had picked up from the tables. "You're up early."

Chandler cleared his throat, embarrassed that she had caught him standing there laughing at nothing, like an idiot. "Yeah, I usually am." he says. "You know..  
work and all. I assume that's why you're here as well. Unless of course, you're just cleaning up around here because you've picked up on Monica's obsessive  
cleaning habits?"

Rachel smirks as she sets the mugs down in the sink behind the counter. "Nah, someone called in sick, and I kind of need the extra cash..plus, I thought I'd take a break from  
sitting around moping.."

"Ah..yeah, I've heard that can be tiring." Chandler says, wishing he could think of something more comforting to say. He's so witty when it comes to cracking a joke at an  
inappropriate moment, but when it comes to consoling someone, his mind usually goes blank. He decides to give it a try, anyways. "Hey, listen..uh, about the whole Ross thing..  
I really am sorry. I mean..don't tell Ross I said this, but..what he did was pretty low. I just think..you know..you didn't deserve that."

'Woah, where did that come from?' he thinks to himself, raising his eyebrows.

Rachel just stares at him, with a puzzled expression, because it's so unlike him to say something like that. After a moment, she smirks, putting her hand on his arm.

"Thanks, Chandler. That actually means a lot to me, right now."

"Oh, well..good." Chandler says, slightly relieved. "Glad I could help."

He picks his coffee up off the counter as Rachel goes back to work, making fresh pots of coffee. He starts to head for the door, knowing he should probably get to work, himself  
before he's late again. But for some reason, he stops before he gets to the door, looking back at Rachel again.

'Ask her.' the same voice in his head from earlier says. 'She is single now, you know..'

"I can't..." he mutters under his breath. "Ross would kill me."

Rachel turns around, looking at Chandler curiously. "Sorry?"

"What?"

"Um..Did you just say something?"

"Yeah...I did. I was...talking to myself."

"Ah." Rachel says, nodding. "Do you do that often?"

Chandler pauses. "Yes, actually...but I'm still not as bad as the old homeless guy down the street who yells at clouds."

Rachel laughs. He loves making her laugh. She has the prettiest smile..

Taking a deep breath, Chandler takes a hesitant step towards her.

"Hey, Rach?" he says. "What time do you get off work?"

"Later this afternoon, why?"

"Uh.."Chandler pauses. He nervously rubs the back of his neck. He's always been afraid of asking girls out. He clears his throat.

"Well..I was just thinking...that maybe, um...maybe you and I could...you know, go see a movie..or grab dinner, later maybe?"

Rachel looks at him, furrowing her brow, and he immediately regrets his decision to ask her. "Uh..I'm sorry. You and me? Like...like a date, is that what you're asking me, Chandler?"

"Oh no!" Chandler says, quickly. "No..God, no! Not a date..I mean..that would be so inappropriate of me to ask you out on a date right after what happened with you and Ross!"  
He lets out a loud, nervous laugh, which he also regrets. He's starting to wish that the floor would just swallow him whole so that he wouldn't be in this extremely awkward  
situation right now. "No, no...I just meant...you know, as friends! I was just thinking about what you said before about the whole..sitting around and moping thing and I just thought  
...you know..since Monica will probably be at work, that if you wanted someone to talk to or..even just hang out with, I'm free. That's all I meant. I'm so sorry."  
he quickly adds. "You know what? Never mind.."

Rachel looks up at him with a smile. "Chandler, that is so sweet of you! I'd love to!"

"Wha- Really?" Chandler says in disbelief. He clears his throat, trying not to let her see how happy this makes him.

"Yeah! So, I'll come over to your place around 7 to pick you up, then?" she says.

"Sure! Yeah, I'll be there. I mean..I do live there." He laughs again. "I uh..I guess I'll see you later, then."

"Ok, great! Bye!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chandler's day at work seemed to drag on forever. He couldn't stop looking at the clock all day, and he couldn't stop thinking about  
his dinner plans with Rachel later on. He's been looking forward to it since he left Central Perk this morning. "Wow. How lucky am I to get to spend a whole evening with Rachel?" he thinks as he makes his way up the stairs of his building. He keeps having to remind himself that it's not a real date, but he's just as nervous and excited as if it were. And if it were a real date it occurs to him that it would be the first one he's been on in ages.

He walks into the apartment, and he's relieved to see that Joey is on his way out the door, so he won't have to explain why he's going out to dinner with Rachel once she gets here. And besides, he he hears him mention food, he might insist on coming along with them, and that would just ruin everything.

"Hey, man." Joey says as he's putting on his coat.

"Hey. Where are you off to?" Chandler asks as he walks past him into the apartment.

"I got a date with this hot girl I met on the subway yesterday." he says.

"Alright, man. I probably won't be here when you get back, anyways, I'm going out, too, so you'll have the place to yourself."

"Oh yeah? Where are you going?"

Chandler pauses, trying to think of something beleivable. But then again, it's Joey he's talking to. He doesn't have to try that hard.  
"Oh, you know...just going to buy some...dryer sheets. From this store on the other side of town that I have a coupon for. You know, just typical things that lonely pathetic single people who are not you do to pass the time."

Joey laughs shaking his head. "Man, that is sad. It must suck being you."

"Yes, well..thank you for your sensativity."

"Alright, dude. Have fun."

"Oh, I will." Chandler waits until Joey's gone before he looks up at the clock. He still has half an hour before Rachel gets there, so he goes to his room to change out of his work clothes and get ready. A few minutes after he's done, he hears a knock at the door. Knowing that's her, he starts to panic a little, making sure he's %100 ready before he goes to the door. "God, why am I freaking out? It's just Rachel!" he whispers to himself. He takes a deep breath and lets it out before he opens the door. "Hey..sorry I-" he falls silent when he sees her. She looks so stunningly beautiful.

"Hey!" Rachel says. "Ready to go?"

"Uh..y-yeah..let me just- wow. You're looking awfully...uh..alluring." Chandler instantly cringes at his choice of words.

"Alluring?" Rachel lets out a laugh. "Chandler, you are so weird sometimes."

"Yeah..sometimes I like to try out words that I find in the New York Times crosswords in my everday vocabulary, for fun. Don't ask..Anyways. Let me just grab my jacket."

Grabbing his jacket from the closet, he puts it on and steps out into the hall. He sees Rachel looking down at the dress she's wearing.

"Seriously, though, you don't think this is too much? I just..I wasn't sure where we were going, and I didn't wanna end up feeling underdressed in my work clothes."

"Oh, no. It's fine! You know, I haven't decided where we're going, anyways. I was gonna let you decide." he says, as they make their way downstairs to the front doors.

Rachel thinks it over as they step outside. "Well you know, I've been craving sushi for a while, are you ok with that?"

"That sounds perfect, I love sushi!" Chandler says, enthusiastically.

"Really? Me too! I keep hearing about this really great place that just opened up on 5th Avenue. We could go there if you want?"

"Really great, as opposed to the hundreds of other sushi places in New York that are just "pretty great"? I'm sold already!" he says.

"Ok!" Rachel says. "We can just walk there, if you want it's only a couple blocks."

...

A few minutes later, they arrive at the restaurant and Japanese waitress in a kimono greets them at the door. She grabs some menus and leads them to a small table near the kitchen.

"Would you like to start out with a bottle of hot saki this evening?" she asks.

"Oh, yeah! That'd be great!" Rachel tells the waitress.

The waitress leaves and returns a few minutes later with there bottle of saki while they're both still looking at their menus and asks if they're ready to order.

"Oh God..I can't decide what I want, it all looks so good!" Rachel says.

"You know what? I'm not even gonna try pronouncing any of these names, I'm just gonna go with...that." Chandler tells the waitress, as his finger randomly lands on one of the sushi platters.

"And I'll have the same thing!" Rachel says with a laugh as she hands her menu to the waitress.

"Ok! Very good choice! It will be ready soon!" the waitress says before she leaves.

"Lets have some of this while it's still hot!" Chandler says, as he pours the saki into the glasses and hands one to Rachel. "Cheers!" he says, clinking his glass with hers before they drink.

Rachel finishes hers and sets her glass down before turning to Chandler again. "Hey Chandler..this really is so nice of you to invite me out. You and I don't hang out enough, and I think this is just what I needed, you know? to get out of the apartment for a while. Lately, I've just been sitting around, feeling sorry for myself, and...being so mad at Ross for what he did. I just still just cant believe he would-" She paused, stopping herself. "But, I mean, I'm sure you didn't come here to listen to me bad-mouth your best friend. Sorry."

"No, no..it's perfectly fine. I can understand you being mad, I mean if a guy cheated on me, I'd-" he stopped, realizing what he said, and Rachel laughed.

"Did I really just say that? I think that's the saki talking! What do they put in this stuff!"

"Oh, I dunno.." Rachel says, still laughing. "Estrogen, maybe?"

Chandler picks up his glass, pretending to study it closely. "Is that why I'm suddenly finding our chef very attractive? Maybe if I drink some more, I'll start growing breasts, and I'll have a shot at going home with him tonight!" he says, and pours himself another shot.

Rachel laughs even harder, and Chandler can't help but smile. She has the most beautiful laugh..

"Aw, Chandler.." Rachel says "I forgot how fun you are to hang out with."

Chandler looks up at her. "I am?..I mean, thanks. I try."

"Yeah..and you know whats weird is, every time something goes wrong with me and Ross..I just keep thinking that you guys aren't gonna want to hang around with me, anymore." Her smile fades away, and she goes quiet for a few seconds before she gives a shrug. "But..who knows. Maybe we'll work things out. We always seem to. It's just.." she lets out a sigh. "God, I am just being a huge buzz-kill  
tonight, aren't I?"

"No." Chandler assured her. "Go ahead..what were you going to say?"

Rachel takes a deep breath as she looks up at Chandler. "Well..it's just that..I'm getting tired of getting hurt like this. I mean, everything he's done up until now seems kind of petty compared to sleeping with someone but...somehow, I think that deep down I still care about him. And that's why I'll probably end up forgiving him, and eventually taking him back..just for him to screw it up again. I just don't know why I keep letting myself down like this, but...I don't know what else to do anymore."

Chandler can tell by the waiver in her voice, that she's on the verge of tears. He can't stand to see her like this anymore. He reaches over, taking her hand in his, and he looks her in the eye.

"You wanna know what I think?" he asks. He pauses, hesitantly. He knows that what he was about to say is very sincere to how he feels about the situation. "..you're not gonna like it." he warns her.

"No, go ahead." Rachel says.

Chandler takes a deep breath, still holding her hand. "Well, I think...that maybe you should just try to move on this time. I mean, I've known Ross for years, and I know that he's a good guy at heart..he just tends to makes some bad choices. But if he can't give you everything that you deserve without hurting you, then...well, it's his loss. And maybe one day, he'll realize that. Or..maybe instead of waiting for him to, you'll find a guy doesn't just take you for granted, and sees how wonderful and special you are, and knows how lucky he is to have you in his life everyday.." he stops talking, sensing that if he doesn't, he might end up saying things that he really shouldn't. He suddenly takes his hand off of hers, clearing his throat. "But...then again. What do I know? Don't listen to me."

He's relieved when the waitress brings their food, so he doesn't have to say anything more. He can't help but notice that Rachel is still looking at him, as he picks up his chopsticks. It's making him feel nervous and uncomfortable. He wishes she'd just say something.

"Wow.." she finally says. "That is not what I was expecting you to say at all."

Chandler freezes. 'Oh God. She knows you like her...Good job, Chandler, you moron..'

"I thought you would have taken Ross's side on this. But I think you might be onto something." Rachel tells him, and he feels a sense of relief fall over him, realizing he's still safe. "In fact, that's pretty much what I keep telling myself, but I think I just needed to hear it from someone else, you know? I just didn't think it would be you, of all people."

Chandler smiles. "Well..I do know a few things about relationships, believe it or not. Not a whole lot, obviously. And sadly, most of what I know I learn is from watching tv."

Rachel shoots him a grin before she picks up her chopsticks, and looks down at her sushi. "I think you're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for, Chandler."

Chandler can't help but smirk. "Oh stop.." he says with a wave of his hand. "Although, living with Joey does help my self-esteem a little bit when it comes to feeling smart. I mean the man thinks glaucoma is something you put on tacos!"

Rachel burts into another fit of laughter, almost spitting out her drink.

He's glad he can make her smile again. Especially since most girls he goes out with usually get annoyed with his habit of cracking jokes about halfway through the night. After a moment, he reaches over, touching her lightly on the shoulder. "Rachel..things will get better for you. You'll see. You'll get it all figured out, I know you will."

She looks up at him with a soft smile and nods. "Thanks, Chandler."

As they start to focus on their meals again, when they hear music start to play loudly, and both look up to see two drunk Japanese men, starting to sing karaoke.

"Wow! I didn't know this place had karaoke!" Rachel says with a laugh.

Chandler's face drops as he starts to recognize the beat of the song. "Oh God..this song. This is Elton John."

"Yeah, Crocodile Rock! I love this song!"

"Oh, I know what song it is." Chandler tells her. "My dad was Elton John's number one fan before he became all about Cher well, started dressing like her.. He use to play this song over and over in our family station wagon on every vacation we ever went on."

Rachel gives him a strange look and snorts. "Oh, come on, Chandler. It's not that bad!"

"Yes it is, and they are butchering it!" he says, growing more and more agitated with the men.

"So why don't you go up there and show them how it's done?" Rachel says with a playful grin.

"Oh, no." Chandler says. "No way. I will never sing that song! Besides, I haven't had nearly as much saki as they have!"

"Oh come on.." Rachel says. "I bet you still know all the words!"

"I do! That's why it's killing me to hear them butcher it like that!..Alright, that's it. I can't take it anymore." Chandler suddenly downed another shot of saki to build up his courgae and got up.

The two men eagerly welcomed him to join them in singing the song. He looks over and see's that Rachel is already killing herself laughing at him, which only encourages him more. He takes the mic, dancing along and making sure gets all the words right, except he changes the name "Suzie" in the song to" Rachel", just to make her laugh even more. It seems to work, as she's almost falling out of her chair, now. After the song is over, everyone in the restaurant applauds and cheers. Unable to resist, he takes a bow. "Thank you, I'm here til next week!" he says into the microphone before he hands it back to the other men."Have atter, guys." he tells them, and returns to his table.

As they're walking home together, Rachel starts cracking up all over again, just thinking about what Chandler did. "Oh man, I still can't believe you did that, Chandler! That was.." she chuckles, shaking her head.  
"I haven't laughed that hard in God only knows when."

Chandler laughs as well. "I almost wish my dad could have been there to see it. He'd be pretty proud!"

"Oh, I bet!" she says. "You had your own back-up singers and everything!"

"Well, I just hope now they'll remember the proper lyrics!" Chandler tells her as they finally reach their building and go inside. He follows her upstairs, to their doors. Before Rachel reaches hers, she turns around, smiling at him.

"Chandler, thank you so much. I have had so much fun tonight, this was exactly what I needed." she says.

Chandler gives a shrug. "Well, Anytime!"

"Yeah, we really should do this again sometime." Rachel says. "I can honestly say this was the best..non-date that I've ever been on."

Chandler shuffles his feet, and looks down, giving a nervous laugh. "Yeah, well...I'm kinda glad this isn't a real date, to be honest. I don't have to deal with the extremely awkward moment of deciding whether or not I should kiss you good-night, or just.." he meant it as a joke, but before he can even finish his sentence, Rachel places her hands on the sides of his face, and plants a kiss on his lips.

It's over before he knows it, but it's still enough to render him completely speechless. He opens his eyes and just stares at her, unable to react.

"Sorry, I just thought I'd make it easier for you to make up your mind." Rachel says with a smile. "Well, goodnight, Chandler."

She turns around, opening her door and going into her apartment.

"..Goodnight." Chandler says, finally finding his voice, even though she's already gone. He slowly reaches behind him for the door knob and turns around, fumbling to unlock it with his key. He still can't believe that happened.

As he walks inside and sees that all the lights are off, meaning Joey's probably asleep. After he closes the door behind him, unable to stop himself, he starts doing his typical awkward happy dance he does when something incredible happens to him. He stops, suddenly startled when he hears the fridge door close, and realizes that Joey is standing in th kitchen, holding a carton of milk in his hand, and looking at him curiously. "Uh..what are you doing?" he asks.

Chandler clears his throat. "Nothing...uh, what are YOU doing?" he asks.

"Nothing.." Joey replies. He puts the milk back in the fridge.

"Ok, well..good." Chandler says, as he heads to his room. "Goodnight, then." he says, before he goes inside.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I got a lot of requests to continue this fic, and since I have a sudden spark of inspiration for it, I'm going to do just that!  
Sorry that it took me so long, but I'm glad people are liking it! Thank you for reading and for your reviews! don't worry, I haven't forgot about this fic and I do plan to finish it eventually. :)

Chandler woke up in a great mood the day following his 'date' with Rachel. He had really enjoyed himself, and she seemed to have enjoyed  
herself too, which made him happy. He was glad he could take her mind off of everything that had happened with Ross, even just for a little while.

Chandler doesn't see Joey anywhere when he gets up, which meant he had already left the apartment, and was probably downstairs at Central Perk. He decided to join him for coffee. As he gets dressed and ready for the day, he starts thinking about the night before and smiles to himself. 'Who knew that Rachel could be so much fun?' he thinks. It was one of the best dates he'd ever been on. He had even got a kiss at the end of the night. But remembering that part gave him an uneasy feeling. 'That didn't mean anything. Or did it?..of course not! Don't be so stupid. She's just your friend. I have got to stop thinking about her.."

Chandler goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth and comb his hair before he leaves the apartment and makes his way down to Central Perk. He sees Joey, sitting by himself on the couch with a coffee and a muffin.

"Hey." Chandler says as he sits down next to him. Joey looks up.

"Hey." he says. "So, uh..how did shopping go last night?"

"Fine.." Chandler answers, picking up on the suspicious tone of Joey's voice. He remembers how he was awake when he got home last night.

Joey keeps looking at him. He raises his eyebrows. "Really?" he says, as he sets down his coffee cup. "It's just, you seemed so excited about it when you got  
home last night."

"Well, yeah.." Chandler picks up a newspaper off the coffee table, not looking at Joey. "I was excited because I found some laundry soap for half-price, I mean, hello!  
Who wouldn't be excited? Sometimes you gotta learn to enjoy the little things in life, Joe."

Joey smirks, shaking his head. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were on a date!"

"I was not!" Chandler says, immediately getting defensive and lowers his newspaper. He clears his throat. He really doesn't want Joey to know that he was starting to have feelings to Rachel. "I was...uh...I just ran into a friend while I was out, but it wasn't a date!"

"Oh? What friend?" Joey asks.

"Nobody you know.."

"Why don't you wanna tell me?"

Chandler sighs, annoyed that Joey's not letting up on this. He tries to think of a way to answer him that will end this conversation.

"She must be cute." Joey carries on, as he takes a bite of his muffin. "I bet that's why you don't wanna tell me, cause you're worried that I'm gonna try to steal her away from you!"

"Yes, that's exactly why, Joey." Chandler replies, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Joey laughs. "I wouldn't do that to you, man. Although if she meets me and happens to like me, I can't hold myself responsible!"

"Oh, shut up.." Chandler mutters and continues to pretend to read the paper. He flips to the comics to read the jokes.

"Anyways..have you talked to Ross or Rachel lately?" Joey asks.

Chandler glances up, somewhat nervously. "Um...yeah. I did kinda talk to Rachel briefly, yesterday. Why?"

Joey shrugs. "I dunno. I've just been kind of worried about them since their big fight. They haven't been speaking to each other, and it just doesn't seem right, you know? I'm so use to seeing them together."

Chandler shrugs. "Yeah..but I mean, you can't expect them to stay together after something like that, Joe. What Ross did was kind of...hard to overlook. I would think, anyways."

"I know.." Joey said. "But I feel bad for him. I mean, everybody makes mistakes, right?"

"Well.." Chandler begins, setting the newspaper aside. "There is such a thing as making one too many mistakes, Joe. I mean, think about how Rachel must feel. Like..ok, say some girl who you really cared about repeatedly screwed up your relationship, by because of other men, and then you guys break up...but you suddenly have a change of heart, and want to work things out, because you love that person...and you find out that they've already moved on and slept with someone else. Wouldn't you be just a little upset, Joey? I mean, wouldn't you feel like you were meaningless, and disposable to that person, who you really cared about? I'm just saying...Rachel is a person, with feelings, not just a peice of trash! And not only that, but she's a great girl, you know? She  
really deserves so much better than that!" Chandler stopped his rant when he noticed the strange, confused way Joey was looking at him.

"Wow.." Joey said. "You alright, man? Did you forget to take your happy pills today?"

Chandler rolled his eyes, picking up his coffee and news paper again.

"Look, I get what you're saying." Joey told him. "But, they're both our friends. I just hope that they can work it out, or at least be friends again."

"Yeah.. I guess." Chandler says, just as he notices Ross walking into the coffee shop.

"Speak of the devil.." he mutters to Joey. Ross doesn't look happy. In fact, he looks down right miserable, but Chandler is pretty much used to seeing his  
best friend in that state.

"Hi.." Ross says in his typical meloncholy tone that he always uses when he's upset.

"Hey." Chandler and Joey both reply, and Ross takes the seat next to the couch. He sits their for a while, not saying anything.

"So..how's it going?" Joey finally asks, as it seems appropriate for someone to speak.

Ross lets out a sigh. "Not good. I just...I really want to talk to Rachel about what happened, but she won't talk to me. She won't return my calls or anything. I thought maybe she'd be here, but I doubt she'd talk to me, even if she was. I just want a chance to explain myself. I mean... is that so much to ask?" he sighs again, and stares off for a moment.

'Way to play the victim, Ross..' Chandler thinks, with becoming annoyed. He doesn't say anything. He's going to have to try as hard as he can to bite his tongue this time, no matter how hard it is. The last person he needs to find out about how he's starting to feel about Rachel is Ross.

"Don't worry, she'll come around, man." Joey says.

"Yeah...just give her some time to cool off. I mean, it only just happened a few days ago, right?" Chandler says, because he feels like he needs to say something somewhat encouraging.

Ross shrugs. "I guess...she always does this, though. It's just...this has been so hard, you know? Not being able to see her, or be around her...it's not making this any easier, for me, anyways. The hardest thing is.. I still love her. And not having her around anymore is going to be really, really hard. I mean, what if she starts dating other guys?"

'Then she might have a shot at actually being happy, for once!' Chandler says in his mind. He can't think of an appropriate response to that question, that would make Ross feel better. He suddenly doesn't want to talk about this anymore.

"Yeah..that's gotta be rough." Joey says, shaking his head. "I don't really know what I'd do in your shoes, to be honest."

Ross sighs once again, resting his head in his hands. Nobody says anything else for a few minutes until he looks up at Chandler.

"Chandler, you're being pretty quiet today." he notes.

Chandler feels his face growing warm as he looks away, avoiding eye contact with Ross. He clears his throat. "Am I? I, uh...hadn't noticed."

"Oh, yeah!" Joey pipes up. "Chandler has a crush on someone, but he won't tell me who it is."

Chandler's face lights up even more. "Nuh-uh! I so do not have a crush on anyone!"

Both Ross and Joey look amused by his sudden defensive response.

"Oh yeah?" Ross says. "Who is she?"

'God dammit, Joey..' Chandler thinks. He's very uncomfortable being put on the spot like this. Especially under these circumstances. "It's not a crush!" he insists. "I...I just...bumped into somebody I knew last night, and Joey's making a big deal out of it, and it's not a big deal at all! Nothing happened!"

Ross and Joey exchange a look and laugh. "Oh, sure, Chan." Ross says. "You expect us to buy that? Come on! Tell us who it is. That cute girl in your office?"

"Oh, I know who it was!" Joey says. "I bet it's Janice!"

Both he and Ross seem to find this hilarious and they crack up, but Chandler isn't at all amused. He hates being the brunt of the joke, and he sure doesn't want either of them to know the truth.

"Oh, Ha-ha, very funny!" Chandler snaps at them, and gets up. "God, you guys are so immature!"

He leaves them, still laughing at him, to get order himself a coffee from the front till. After he orders his coffee, Chandler hears the door open again while he's waiting for it. He turns around, and his heart begins racing when he sees Rachel walk in. She makes breif eye contact with him, and gives him a small smile, before she sees Ross, and just stands their, frozen in her tracks. She turns around to leave when Ross quickly gets up and goes over to her. "Rach..please don't go."he says. "Please? I just...I need to talk to you. Just for a minute, ok?" After a moment, he leads Rachel towards the couch. Joey stands up and comes over to where Chandler is.

"Maybe we should uh..go outside for a minute and let them talk." Joey mutters to him. Chandler nods and follows Joey to the door. Part of him wants to hear what's going on.

From outside, he can see them in the window. Joey stands in front of them, so its not obvious they're watching.

"What's going on, can you see them?" Joey asks.

"Yeah..they're just talking." Chandler tells him as he looks over Joey's shoulder through the window. Joey turns around to watch, as well. From the looks of it, Ross is doing most of the talking. Rachel looks so upset. She won't even look at Ross. Chandler feels bad for her, knowing how hard it must be for her to face him. Ross keeps talking for a few minutes. He puts his hand on top of hers, and Rachel suddenly looks very angry. She stands up, yelling at him. And then Ross stands up, too. He says something, and Rachel turns away from him. She storms towards the door.

"Oh God..they're coming! They don't look happy!" Chandler tells Joey, and they both turn around, looking around and trying not to look suspicious.

"It's over, Ross! I'm done!" Chandler hears Rachel say as the door opens. He sees her walking quickly away in the opposite direction.

"Oh, well...fine!" Ross calls after her. "Have it your way, you always do!" and as he watches her leave, his expression softens. Like he knows he shouldn't have said that.

With a heavy sigh, he turns towards Chandler and Joey. He hangs his head, in silence.

"Ross? You okay?" Joey asks. He pats Ross on the back. "Listen..why don't we see if we can score some tickets to tonights Knicks game? We should do something to try and take your mind off this."

"..Ok." Ross replies, sounding depressed. He and Joey start walking away, but Chandler stays where he is, staring off in the direction Rachel went. She turned the corner, and he lost sight of her, but he doesn't feel right leaving when he saw how upset she was.

"Chandler, you coming?" Joey asks, looking back at him.

"Huh?" Chandler says turning around. "Yeah...just, uh...I'll catch up to you guys. It's kinda windy out, I'm gonna go upstairs and grab a warmer jacket."

"Alright, man. We'll meet you there." Joey says, and they keep walking down the street towards where the store that sold the tickets was. Chandler turns into the enterance of the apartment building and just stands near the door for a minute. He checks around the corner to make sure they can't see him anymore before he heads off to where he saw Rachel go. He realizes he might not be able to find her and he stops at the corner where she disappeared. He looks around, and is about to turn around and catch up to Joey and Ross, when he sees her, standing with her back against the brick wall, and crying. She doesn't seem to notice him, so he approaches slowly, with caution.

"..Rachel?"

"What!?" she says, quickly. Clearly, she's still very upset, and why shouldn't she be? Ross had no right to talk to her the way he did. If he was trying to win her back, he sure wasn't doing a good job.

Chandler takes another step towards her. "Um...a-are you alright?"

Rachel looks down, as tears fall down her cheeks. Her mouth turns down in a sad way, and she shakes her head. Chandler doesn't really know what to do to make her feel better. He's usually not very good at this kind of thing, but he has to do something.

"Awh, Rach.. I'm sorry." he says, and hesitantly reaches his arms out towards her. He's taken by surprise when she falls into them, returning his hug. She rests her head against his shoulder, still crying, softly.

"Oh Chandler, I just don't know what to do.." she says though the tears.

"Shh...come on, now. It'll be ok." Chandler says, sympathedically. He puts his hands on her shoulders and gently pulls back to look at her face. "Listen, Ross is just...well, I'm not gonna lie, he's being an ass right now. A huge ass! Like..so big that, if you could find a pair of pants big enough for him, you'd have to iron them in the street! That's how big of an ass Ross is!"

Rachel lets out a quiet laugh. She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. "Yeah.." she says quietly.

"I mean..he's making a lot of huge mistakes right now that I know he's going to regret," Chandler tells her."But..he's the one who should feel bad right now, ok? Not you."

Rachel looked down for a moment, and back up at Chandler with a smirk. "Chandler..why are you being so nice to me? I mean, not that I don't appreciate it. But why? You're Ross's friend. You don't have to feel sorry for me."

Chandler takes a deep breath. He hesitates for a moment, thinking of how to answer her. "Well I...guess I just do. I mean..I don't think it's right for Ross to hurt you like this. I mean, just because you're beautiful, doesn't mean you don't have any feelings.."

Rachel looks up, giving him a smirk. "You really think I'm beautiful?"

"Well...uhm.." Chandler stammers, nervously. He clears his throat. "I..I guess. I mean..don't you? You own mirrors, right?"

She laughs again, shaking her head. "Chandler, you really surprise me, sometimes. I didn't know you could be so sweet."

Chandler smiles and gives a shrug. "Neither did I. Then again, you're probably the first person to call me sweet. I usually get "socially awkward" or "sarcastic bastard" you know..those sorts of things. But I'm glad I can help. You know, you look so much prettier when you're smiling." he reaches over, gently wiping the tears from her cheeks. "Not that you don't look pretty all the time.."

Rachel smirks again and glances up, catching his gaze and holding it for a moment. He can't look away from those beautiful blue eyes of hers. Even though they are full of tears, they're still so beautiful. There is a silence between them, for several seconds until it is broken by someone else.

"Rachel!" Hearing Phoebe's voice, Rachel quickly turns around, seemingly startled by the sudden interruption. Behind her, Chandler see's Phoebe and Monica walking towards them, quickly.

"There you are! I thought you said you would meet us downstairs?" Monica says.

"Oh..I..I, uhm, I did, I was going to..I just.." She stammers.

"Are you crying? What's wrong?" Phoebe asks, and shoots Chandler an intimidating glare. "Chandler, what did you do to her!?"

"N-nothing, guys. He didn't do anything. I'm fine. Really." Rachel quickly answers.

"Well, what's wrong, Rach?" Monica asks, looking at her friend with a concerned expression. "Is it Ross?"

Rachel nods, sniffling a bit and wiping her eyes. "Yeah. But...I'm ok, now. Chandler was just uh..well, he made me feel better."

Phoebe turned to Chandler, curiously. "Really? You can do that?"

Chandler gave a shrug. "Apparently. Believe me, I'm just as surprised as you are."

Monica put her arm around Rachel, in a sympathetic way. "Awh, Rach, I'm sorry my brother is such a big jerk. Come on, let's go get some coffee. You coming Chandler? We're going shoe shopping afterwards."

"Gee, I think I'll pass this time. See, I'm getting my nails done this afternoon, and I already have more high heels than I can shake a stick at. But you ladies have fun!" he says, with a wave and walks past them. He figures he should catch up with Ross and Joey before they start to wonder where he is, but he pauses before he walks past Rachel, placing his hand awkwardly on her shoulder.

"Hope you feel better.." he says, quietly. She quickly pulls him in for another hug. It takes him slightly by surprise when she also kisses him on the cheek.

"Thanks Chandler. I already do." when she lets go, he notices Monica and Phoebe exchange a puzzled glance at each other. Rachel looks at him with a smile before she joins them again.

"Bye, guys." Chandler mutters as he keeps walking, hoping that Monica and Phoebe don't suspect anything. He has an uneasy feeling as makes his way towards the ticket shop where Ross and Joey are. He sighs as he approaches a cross walk. 'How much longer am I going to be able to keep this a secret?' he thinks. 'What if I just told her? Just got it out, and told her exactly how I feel? I wonder what she would say?'  
He didn't know what to do about this anymore, but he realized talking to somebody about it might be the only choice he had right now.


End file.
